If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

GLORY 50: Chicago (16-2)

FOR TICKETS:Premium Pre-Sale: Today!General On Sale: Saturday, Dec. 9GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, today announced the date and venue of its first event of 2018.

Located on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, UIC Pavillion will be the site of GLORY 50 Chicago and GLORY 50 SuperFight Series on Friday, Feb. 16.

"We [as an organization] have made commitments to the Chicago area, including two greatly successful events in 2017," said GLORY CEO Jon J Franklin. "The passionate kickboxing fanbase [in Chicagoland] has consistently rewarded us with infectious energy and a lively crowd.

"This event is obviously significant for GLORY, being our 50th live show and first event on the UIC campus, so I'm personally looking forward to another unforgettable fight night in Chicago."

GLORY 50 Chicago is headlined by a trilogy fight for the GLORY welterweight world championship.

Rivals Murthel "The Predator" Groenhart (67-22-3, 38 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) and Harut Grigorian (46-11, 32 KO, fighting out of the Netherlands) met for a second time in June, but the encounter ended in controversy.

After Groenhardt landed a knee in the second round, Grigorian turned away from his opponent, leading to an unimpeded knockout punch by "The Predator." Following the finish, two men attacked Groenhart in the ring. While the assailants were apprehended and Groenhart walked away uninjured, the finishing sequence and ensuing attack have heightened intrigue in a rubber match.

Since the previous bout, Groenhart has gone on to become champion, dethroning Cedric Doumbe at GLORY 44 Chicago in August. On the same fight card, Grigorian defeated both Karim Benmansour and Antoine Pinto during a one-night, four-man contender tournament, earning a No. 2 welterweight ranking and the trilogy bout with Groenhart.

Additional bouts for GLORY 50 Chicago and GLORY 50 SuperFight Series will be announced shortly.

Tickets for GLORY 50 Chicago and GLORY 50 SuperFight Series go on sale at midnight (Central Time) on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tickets will be available for online purchase at ticketmaster.com, the UIC Pavilion Box Office and all Ticketmaster retail locations.

Friday, Jan 12 2018 by John O'Regan
Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva and Guto Inocente were both present at December’s GLORY REDEMPTION event, the former winning a fight with Brian Douwes, the latter cornering his countryman Alex Pereira.

Both heavyweights did backstage interviews after the event and in both interviews the same name came up: Benjamin Adegbuyi. Silva wants to avenge the GLORY 44 decision loss to the Romanian, Inocente (33-8, 17 KO’s) wants to prove his GLORY 43 win was neither a fluke nor a bad decision.

Adegbuyi (28-4-1, 16 KO’s) is currently in the Netherlands, training with Dennis Krauweel (Rico Verhoeven’s coach) for the upcoming GLORY 50 CHICAGO four-man heavyweight tournament. But he remembers his reaction when he watched those post-fight interviews while at home on his couch in Bucharest, Romania.

“I was like man, these guys are crazy!” he says, his voice rising in emphasis. “I watched their interviews and I was like what are these guys talking about? They are crazy.

“Guto has that win but it is not, in my opinion, a real win. Not only I say that, everyone says that to me. Not only do I not feel like I lost. The fight, I don’t even feel like it was a close fight! It was a really weird decision.”

Providentially, Inocente is part of next months GLORY 50 tournament. He’s in the opposite bracket to Adegbuyi, so if they are to meet it will be in the tournament final. That’s a scenario Adegbuyi is now strongly keen on.

“I hope we can meet in the final so I can get the revenge,” he says. “Backstage after that first fight I did my own interview and I said at the time I didn’t care about a rematch for revenge because really I didn’t feel like I had lost a fight.

“But then I heard Guto saying what he’s saying and now I’m like ‘OK man, you really think you got that win? Let’s see.’”

As for Silva (41-17-1, 26 KO’s), there’s no sign of his and Adegbuyi’s paths crossing again in the immediate future, but ‘Mr Gentleman’ is puzzled by the Brazilian’s insistence that the judges got it wrong in Chicago.

“It went to an extra round but in my opinion I won all three rounds clearly anyway. Then in the fourth I put him down for an eight count, so what is he talking about!?” he says.

In the meantime Adegbuyi has his next target in front of him: D’Angelo Marshall (17-2, 9 KO’s), a one-time Heavyweight Contender Tournament winner who is coming off a win over Ismael Londt in December.

“He’s young, he’s hungry - he reminds me of myself, actually, when I first came in to GLORY,” says Adegbuyi. “I remember it like it was yesterday, coming to GLORY 14 ZAGREB in Croatia and wanting to show everyone that I am the next big thing. I get that same vibe from Marshall when I watch him.

“But.. I think he’s good, but not great. He’s not my level. Actually I don’t think anyone in this tournament is my level. I think you’ve got me and Rico clearly at the top of the heavyweight division and then the rest of guys are [some distance] below.”

Speaking of Verhoeven, the reigning heavyweight champion is doing some sparring with Adegbuyi to help him prepare for next month’s tournament. It’s a slightly odd situation, the division’s champion and #1 contender training together under the same coach, but it seems to work for everyone involved. For now, at least.

Adegbuyi always laughs when he’s asked what it’s like for the division’s main rivals to be training alongside each other. There’s a certain awkwardness to the situation, but it also seems that it really isn’t that big of a deal to all the people involved.

“Like I’ve said in the past, we don’t think right now about a fight with me and Rico. Only the fights we have in front of us right now. When that situation comes around, we will deal with it, we will sit down and work it out, but for now it’s not an issue,” he says.

“I’m planning to win everything I do this year. I made my pro boxing debut last year and I think I will do two or three more boxing fights this year, plus kickboxing. I’m trying to win everything. I have been the #1 contender for two years, my goal is to be champion and that goal hasn’t changed.

“The most obvious solution would be for me to change team for that fight, a different camp. Dennis has been with Rico for fifteen years, obviously I couldn’t expect him to train me for that fight. But for now everything is great. He’s a great coach, really intelligent, really helpful in all sorts of ways. This is a great team for me and this is going to be a good year for me.’

GLORY 50 CHICAGO takes place Friday, February 16 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois and features two world title fights: Murthel Groenhart defends the welterweight title against Harut Grigorian and Sitthichai defends the world lightweight title against Chris Baya.Guto: “Next time, I’ll put Adegbuyi to sleep”

Wednesday, Jan 24 2018 by John O'Regan

Guto Inocente (34-8, 17 KO’s) is a popular man of late.

Not only does the Brazilian find himself featured prominently in the currently-underway rundown of ‘Top 50 GLORY Moments’ (to mark the occasion of GLORY’s upcoming 50th event), he also finds himself being regularly name-checked by fellow heavyweights.

Young prospect Junior Tafa (18-1, 14 KO’s), a 21-year-old Australian national of Samoan heritage, joined GLORY in October last year and immediately identified Inocente as an opponent he would like to face in the future.

Fate then intervened to have the two matched with each other in the semi-final stage of next month’s GLORY 50 CHICAGO Heavyweight Contender Tournament. Also in the tournament is Romanian contender Benjamin Adegbuyi (28-4, 16 KO’s); he is matched with D’Angelo Marshall (17-2, 9 KO’s).

He lost a points decision to Inocente at GLORY 43 NEW YORK in July last year, but has condemned the judges for their decision. Earlier this month he said that Inocente is “crazy if he thinks he really won that fight”.

“Tafa is a good boxer, good hands, but I will show him. Kickboxing is a different sport. He was calling me out for a fight when he joined GLORY. Well, now he will have it,” says the stern Brazilian.

“As for Adegbuyi, it will be my pleasure to fight with him again. But I don’t think it will be in this tournament, because I expect to meet D’Angelo Marshall in the final, not him. But, the next time I do fight him, I will put him to sleep. Deeply.

“I’m ready for this tournament. I fought a lot of tournaments in my life already. I can beat two, three, even four guys in the same night, no problem.”

Ranked at #5 in the heavyweight lists, Inocente is 5-1 in GLORY, with the sole mark on his record being a decision loss to #2-ranked Jamal Ben Saddik at GLORY 39 BRUSSELS early last year. He followed that with the decision win over Adegbuyi to go 2-1 in 2017.

GLORY 50 CHICAGO takes place Friday, February 16 at the UIC Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

Glory 50 Chicago

Welterweight champion Murthel ‘The Predator’ Groenhart is from Amsterdam, Netherlands but has made Chicago into something of a second home. It’s been a scene of success for him twice before: he stopped ‘Thai Terminator’ Thongchai at GLORY 38 and he won the belt from Cedric Doumbe here at GLORY 44.

Grigorian is no stranger to The Windy City either: he won the Welterweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 44 to earn this title shot and go into what will be his third career fight with Groenhart. Their last encounter, at GLORY 42, ended in the single most controversial moment in GLORY history and that means this encounter has some heat in it.

If the revenge element wasn’t enough for Grigorian, it’s also his first GLORY title shot. For Groenhart it’s his first title defense, a crucial and highly-pressured bout for any new champion. Groenhart is 2-0 over Grigorian thus far, with his trademark knee strikes playing a key role on both occasions, but Grigorian’s battering-ram style nearly won him their first fight and will be in full effect in this one as well.

Being a title fight, it’s set for five rounds. But given the two fighters’ styles, plus the fact that both of their previous encounters ended inside the distance, there is a very high chance that the judges won’t be needed in this one either.